Teen Sniper Suspect's Mom Now in Jamaica

Published 7:00 pm, Friday, December 13, 2002

The mother of 17-year-old sniper suspect John Lee Malvo returned to Jamaica on Saturday following her deportation from the United States, police said.

Una James, 38, flew from Miami to Kingston aboard a U.S. government plane, escorted by U.S. marshals, police Detective Cpl. Rohan McFarlane said. She was deported for being in the United States illegally, officials said.

After speaking with Jamaican immigration officers, James was whisked out a rear entrance of the airport to relatives in a waiting car, McFarlane said. She did not speak to reporters.

"She is free to go," McFarlane said.

Authorities have linked her son and 41-year-old John Allen Muhammad to 19 shootings, including 13 deaths, in Maryland, Virginia, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Washington. The two were arrested at a rest stop in Maryland in Oct. 24. Both are charged with capital murder.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Jan. 14 in Fairfax County, Va., to determine whether Malvo will be tried as an adult and face the death penalty in the shooting of FBI analyst Linda Franklin. James is considered a likely material witness in the trials of both men.

She reportedly has been unable to speak with her son since his arrest. She has made no public statements about the case.

James and Malvo moved from Jamaica to Antigua in 1998. Investigators believe it was there that Malvo met Muhammad, a U.S. Army veteran.

Authorities say James and her son later immigrated into the United States illegally, and that Malvo and Muhammad were reunited in Bellingham, Wash., where they lived at a homeless shelter as father and son.